Io, mammeta e tu [English translation]

I had told you, since our first date,

that you shouldn’t bring anyone with you.

Instead, now a brother, now a sister, now a niece…

you’re never alone, not once…

we always go out in threes.

And you promised me

‹Tomorrow, who knows…

I’ll come alone…

just with mum.›

Me, your mum and you…

We go for a walk in Toledo,1

we walk ahead, and your mum is right behind.

Me, your mum and you…

always near,

that’s crazy,

she’s going to come on our honeymoon too…

We go to the cinema, we go dancing;

if we try to slope off,

like a police officer2

she comes and seizes us, a-a-ah!

Yet, I’m in love,

I’m resigned,

I’m not fighting back anymore.

Me, your mum and you.

Me, your mum and you.

Yet St. Gennaro had fulfilled my wish:3

a few mornings ago,

she couldn’t get up;

she had a fever,

it looked like she could die,

I almost believed

I could go out with you alone.

Yet, your mum managed

to say in her faintest voice:

«I’ll have my youngest daughter4

go with you.»

Me, your sister and you…

We go to the café in Chiatamone5

«Would you like a cup [of ice cream] or a spumone?»6

‹The most expensive one.›

As a memory of this day,

we’ve had out picture taken inside the mansion house.

She wants a ball, she wants a babà,7

she doesn’t feel like walking.

I look at her, I look at the sea,

I have half a mind of tossing her into it, a-a-ah!

Yet, I’m in love,

I’m resigned,

I’m not fighting back anymore.

Me, your sister and you.

Me, your sister and you.

Sweetheart, you’re always with your relatives,

this family is like a tribe.

They reach as far as Milan, they reach as far as the East,

and all these people are always around me.

An old aunt coming from Cefalù8

came here and never left.

Me, your aunt and you,

poor lady, she has a bad health,

sometimes she faints.

Me, your aunt and you,

a fresh egg, a mozzarella,

we can only move by carriage.

I’m always paying,

who’s going to give me the money?

Either I break up with you or, in a month’s time,

I’ll be begging for money, a-a-ah!

You’ve gotten me into troubles,

I’m going to marry someone else,

I’m not going to see all of you any more…

your mum, your sister and you,

your dad, your brother and you,

your grandma, your aunt and you.

Your dad, your brother,

your grandma, your sister,

your sister, your aunt,

your aunt, your dad,

your dad, your brother,

your brother, your grandma,

your grandma, your dad,

your dog…

‹Excuse me, young boy… I’m her great-grandmother,

I’ve just come home from the hospital…›

Aaah!

1. via Toledo is a famous street in Naples.2. carabinieri are one of the many police forces of Italy.3. San Gennaro {St. Januarius} is the patron saint of Naples; a great many people from Naples worship him and ask him for miracles.4. piccirella = little girl.5. via Chiatamone is a famous street in Naples.6. spumone {big foam} is a traditional dessert from Naples and southern Italy; it’s made of ice cream with a core of spongecake soaked in a liquor.7. babà is a traditional dessert from Naples, made of yeast cake soaked in liquor.8. Cefalù is a city in Sicily.